# offsetof

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< cpp‎ | types

Defined in header `<cstddef>` |  |
#define offsetof(type, member) /* implementation-defined */ |  |

The macro offsetof expands to an integral constant expression of type std::size_t, the value of which is the offset, in bytes, from the beginning of an object of specified type to its specified subobject, including padding bits if any.

Given an object o of type `type` and static storage duration, o.member shall be an lvalue constant expression that refers to a subobject of o. Otherwise, the behavior is undefined. Particularly, if `member` is a static data member, a bit-field, or a member function, the behavior is undefined.

If `type` is not a PODType(until C++11)standard-layout type(since C++11), the result of `offsetof` is undefined(until C++17)use of the `offsetof` macro is conditionally-supported(since C++17).

The expression offsetof(type, member) is never type-dependent and it is value-dependent if and only if `type` is dependent.

### Exceptions

`offsetof` throws no exceptions.

The expression noexcept(offsetof(type, member)) always evaluates to true. | (since C++11)

### Notes

The offset of the first member of a standard-layout type is always zero (empty-base optimization is mandatory). | (since C++11)

`offsetof` cannot be implemented in standard C++ and requires compiler support: GCC, LLVM.

`member` is not restricted to a direct member. It can denote a subobject of a given member, such as an element of an array member. This is specified by C DR 496.

It is specified in C23 that defining a new type containing an unparenthesized comma in `offsetof` is undefined behavior, and such usage is generally not supported by implementations in C++ modes: offsetof(struct Foo { int a, b; }, a) is rejected by all known implementations.

### Example

Run this code

    #include <cstddef>
    #include <iostream>

    struct S
    {
        char   m0;
        double m1;
        short  m2;
        char   m3;
    //  private: int z; // warning: 'S' is a non-standard-layout type
    };

    int main()
    {
        std::cout
            << "offset of char   m0 = " << offsetof(S, m0) << '\n'
            << "offset of double m1 = " << offsetof(S, m1) << '\n'
            << "offset of short  m2 = " << offsetof(S, m2) << '\n'
            << "offset of char   m3 = " << offsetof(S, m3) << '\n';
    }

Possible output:

    offset of char   m0 = 0
    offset of double m1 = 8
    offset of short  m2 = 16
    offset of char   m3 = 18

### Defect reports

The following behavior-changing defect reports were applied retroactively to previously published C++ standards.

DR | Applied to | Behavior as published | Correct behavior
--- | --- | --- | ---
CWG 273 | C++98 | `offsetof` may not work if unary `operator&` is overloaded | required to work correctly even if `operator&` is overloaded
LWG 306 | C++98 | the behavior was not specified when `type` is not a PODType | the result is undefined in this case
LWG 449 | C++98 | other requirements of `offsetof` were removed by the resolution of LWG issue 306 | added them back

### See also

size_t | unsigned integer type returned by the `sizeof` operator (typedef)
is_standard_layout (C++11) | checks if a type is a standard-layout type (class template)
C documentation for offsetof

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